


The Missing Soulmate

by DemigodNamedAthena



Series: The Missing Soulmate [1]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Also first fanfic, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Child Abuse, First AO3 Fic! Yay!, Hurt/Comfort, I read through the entire LAMP tag and thought ‘Hey I’m a writer’, Im Nice I Promise, I’m Nervous About Posting This, Logan’s Parents Are The Worst Y’all, M/M, M/M/M/M, Not Too Explicit Though, Panic Attacks, Polyamory, Protective Patton, Protective Roman, Protective Virgil, So I decided to try my hand at this, Soulmate AU, Title sucks I know, Uh ok now to the tags, What you write on your skin shows up on your soulmate’s skin, hopefully, idk how to tag guys, no beta we die like men, oh well
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-03
Updated: 2018-09-30
Packaged: 2019-07-06 05:20:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 19,425
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15879360
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DemigodNamedAthena/pseuds/DemigodNamedAthena
Summary: “Salutations. It would appear we are soulmates. My name is Logan.”Ever since he was little, Logan has been fascinated with the idea of soulmates. How did they work? How were they assigned? Did everyone have a soulmate? And most importantly, what would his be like?Virgil just wanted to be accepted. To feel comfortable in his skin for once. And when ink appeared on his skin that he hadn’t put there, for the first time in his life he felt like it might be possible.Patton had so much love in his heart, sometimes he wondered how it would ever fit. But Fate knew what it was doing when it gave Patton more than one soulmate.Roman was a romantic, no one would deny. So the fact that everyone had a soulmate was perfect for him. The ultimate partner, one that Fate had chosen for each person. Too bad he was falling for the cute barista at the coffee shop on campus.





	1. Chapter 1

Logan stirred to awareness, drawn out of his sleep by a gentle tingling on his arm. He sat up quickly, turning on his light so he could see.

A purple line of ink was tracing its way across his skin. The line continued, gentle movements calm and measured. Logan smiled and reached for a pen of his own.

By the time he found one, the purple lines had formed a picture of a cloud with raindrops falling from it. He uncapped the pen and wrote one his own skin. _Salutations. It would appear we are soulmates. My name is Logan._

The purple lines, which were now beginning to add more clouds, stopped immediately. After a minute, the tingling sensation returned. _Hello Logan… It would appear we are._ And that was it. Logan waited for a more forthcoming answer. After several more minutes, one came. _Sorry I’m just, not used to someone writing back. My name is Virgil._

_I turned 18 today, so any writing of yours would not have appeared on my skin before today._

_Right, yeah, that makes sense. Sorry about the drawing, I hope I didn’t wake you._

_Do not apologize, you did awaken me but I did not mind in the slightest. I quite enjoy your drawing._

_Right. Well. Goodnight Logan._

_Goodnight Virgil._

Logan stares at his arm a while longer, feeling a happy buzz spread through his chest. He had a soulmate. 

///

Over the next few weeks, Logan got to know Virgil better. He learned that his soulmate drew when he was anxious, and he favorite color was purple, which was why he always drew in it. Virgil lived on the other side of the state, far enough that a trip would be very difficult. During the summer perhaps, they would be able to meet.

He was happy, Virgil was happy. It was good.

Then it changed.

Logan was typing an essay, hoping to finish before 8 so he and Virgil could have a proper conversation before he went to bed, when he felt a tingle on his arm. _Hello?_ In blue pen was written on the back of his hand. Very odd, Virgil had yet to write in a different color than purple. _One moment Virgil, I am close to finishing this essay._

But the the familiar purple ink was moving across his skin in hurried movements. _Logan? Who wrote the hello?_

The blue ink reappeared. _Logan, Virgil? Are those your names?Do I- are you- both my soulmates?_

Logan stared at his arm in complete and utter confusion. Was it- could it be possible- that he had two soulmates? Virgil seemed very upset, his handwriting incredibly shaky, and Logan’s protective instincts kicked in. _Take a deep breath Virgil. Everything is ok. Please remember you breathing exercises. Hello Blue. I am Logan, and the purple is Virgil. And it would appear we are your soulmates._

Virgil’s scrawl reappeared, still shaky. _Is that even possible? I’ve never heard of this happening before…_ _Well it has happened to us, so it must be possible. I will look into it. In the meantime, I am very curious to get to know our other soulmate. Blue started writing again immediately._

_Hello Virgil! Hi Logan! I’m Patton! Gosh, two soulmates.. I guess I got twice as lucky :)_

Patton seemed much more chipper and energetic, and his handwriting was almost childish. Fate couldn’t have given him two soulmates more dissimilar, and he couldn’t wait to get to know them.  
///

Virgil would always remember how thrilled he was upon meeting his two soulmates. The owner of the light blue pen and happy notes, Patton was just as supportive and energetic in person. And the red pen that showed up halfway through senior year, Roman somehow managed to be even more extra and romantic in person. The day was as close to perfect as possible. 

Except.

It had been a full year since his first message from his soulmates. And the soulmate who wrote that message, wasn’t here today.

He hasn’t received a message from Logan in months. Not a list, not a scribble, not a drop of ink. Roman has never had any messages from Logan at all, being the last to turn 18. 

Everything felt off without their final piece. Patton had helped him through several attacks caused by fretting over their missing soulmate. 

He has tried contacting Logan every day, even turning to Google to see if he could track him down through social media. To no avail, Logan never wrote back and the internet failed him.

He wasn’t dead, that at least Virgil was sure of. If your soulmate died, you felt it. And in some cases, a black stain appeared on the remaining soulmate’s body. 

Virgil checked every day. No black burn. Logan was still alive. But if he wasn’t dead, then why wouldn’t he write? 

What had happened to Logan?


	2. Chapter Two

Logan stayed up much later then was recommended for a healthy sleep schedule. Patton, while being childish and having a penchant for terrible puns, was quite entertaining company.

Virgil had fallen asleep an hour or so ago, but Logan would leave the writing on his skin so Virgil would be able to read it in the morning and get caught up on the conversation.

Patton had stayed up until midnight on his 18th birthday so he could write to his soulmate. He had been thrilled that he had two, not even losing enthusiasm for a minute. Logan learned that Patton’s parents were missionaries, and that he currently lived on the Ivory Coast in Africa. Communication would be difficult with him being 4 hours ahead, but Logan wasn’t too concerned. They were soulmates, they would make it work.

When he finally fell asleep, it was with the buzz of an unanswered question under his skin. Perhaps this would be an interesting topic for that research paper he was stuck on…

///  
_Bzzt. Bzzt._

__

Logan silenced his alarm with a groan. _I highly regret staying up as late as I did._ Rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, he saw a good morning message on his arm from Patton, complete with a little smiling sun. There were also little purple notes from Virgil next to his and Pattons conversation from last night. 

__

Something about the arm crowded with scribbles made Logan feel warm all over. He took a moment to stare at the words on his arm a little longer before getting out of bed to get ready for school. 

__

Logan had maxed out most of the classes at his school, so he supplemented by taking classes at the college. He was set to graduate in the Spring with his G.E.D and A.A, two years of college credits would already under his belt when he officially left for college. 

__

His dad had already left for work when Logan made it downstairs. He glanced at the clock and reached for the coffee pot, he had a few minutes before he had to leave. While the coffee brewed, he grabbed a yogurt from the fridge. Not quite enough for a balanced breakfast, but it would have to do. The coffee pot beeped and Logan poured himself a cup, his hand on the door at exactly 6:30. 

__

At 6:30, 467 miles away, Virgil was anxiously flitting about his bedroom, trying to not freak out and keep his breathing under control. 

__

_How_ could someone have more than one soulmate? In Virgil’s mind, Patton was just one more person to disappoint. Logan was understanding and logical, helping with his anxiety and even researching ways to help him. 

__

But despite that positive experience, despite the knowledge that Fate or whatever assigned soulmates was (supposedly) never wrong, he couldn’t help but feel like Patton would be disappointed with him. 

__

He wanted to draw but he was worried that Logan would try to talk to him if he did. 

__

What would be so wrong about that? 

__

He stopped. What _would_ be wrong? Logan would understand, and would almost certainly make him feel better. With a resolute nod, he reached for his markers, and then stopped. Because anything written on his skin would also show up on Patton’s. 

__

He was startled out of his thoughts by his phone alarm going off. “Shit,” He swore, throwing on his hoodie and ducking into the bathroom to quickly apply his makeup. 

__

He descended the stairs two at a time, jumping the last three before sliding into the kitchen. “Hey Mom,” he greeted, grabbing his keys and an apple. “Bye Mom.” She waved without looking up from her computer. 

__

At 7:12, he was pulling out of his driveway and heading to school. 

__

5,102 miles and four hours ahead, Patton was just waking up. (He had a long night, ok?) He rolled over and pushed his face into the pillow, before jolting up with an excited gasp. 

__

He had met his soulmates last night. (Well, written to them but close enough.) He kicked the covers off his legs and scurried out of his room to tell his parents. Neither of them were there, and a quick glance at his watch told him why. 

__

Normally, he’d be up by now, joining his parents at their clinic. But his parents had told him they didn’t need his help today. (They were lying, they always needed help. But Patton suspected they wanted to give him the day with his soulmates.) 

__

Instead, he sat down at their table and stared at his arm. Little purple notes written in a thin, shaky scrawl were scattered throughout the conversation he and Logan had had last night. 

__

He had been shocked, at first when his soulmate had responded to his message thinking it was someone else, and then a different person had responded. But it felt right, somehow. He had always felt like he had too much love to give, and he watched his parents and wondered if he could ever love just one person when it felt like he had enough to love a whole village. 

__

The idea of a soulmate had sounded suffocating, but perhaps he should have had a little more faith in Fate. 

__

Patton was pulled out of his thoughts by a tingle on his arm (He would never get tired of that feeling, he knew.) Purple- _Virgil_ \- was beginning to doodle on his arm. As he watched, a wing started to take shape, then another wing, and then the body of what appeared to be a dragon. 

__

The purple lines began to fill in the dragon, adding detail and a level of shading. He watched in awe, it was really quite good, made even more impressive by the fact that it was being drawn on skin and with pen, and then he saw Logan’s blue pen writing on the palm of his hand. 

__

_A wonderful dragon Virgil. The wings even look like they would be anatomically suited to holding up the dragon._

____

From Patton’s conversation with Logan last night, this was likely as emotive as he was inclined to be. Virgil didn’t write anything in response, although the dragon’s mouth was drawn with a slight upturn, as if he was smiling. 

____

Patton felt his chest twinge slightly, feeling as if he was intruding on something private, reserved for his two soulmates who had more history. 

____

He pushed those feeling away and drew a smiley face next to Logan’s note, and the words _I love it!_

____

The words _Thank you_ written in purple ink that appeared a couple minutes later made his heart grow ten sizes. 

__

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things I Should Be Doing: Homework, cleaning my room, maybe writing for my other projects.  
> Things I Am Doing: Screaming over all of your incredibly sweet comments and reading them over and over. Seriously guys, they absolutely make my day. I’m not super happy with this chapter, but I’m hoping I’ll get into more of a flow with this story once I get past the set up.


	3. Chapter 3

Roman sighed as he watched Virgil pace anxiously across his room. “Virgil,” He said softly. “Will you please come sit down?” Virgil glanced over at him before returning his gaze to the carpet. “Virgil. Love, everything is going to be fine.” 

This time, Virgil looked at Roman and held his gaze. “We’re registering at the Soulmates Office in the morning Roman! That’s a huge deal! What if they say no, say that we should have one soulmate per person, what if I have to choose between you and Patton, what if something bad happens and their computer system crashes after we register and our status is lost and then we’ll never be officially recognized as soulmates in the government’s eyes-”

His rambling was cut off by the sudden presence of Roman in front of him. “Breath, Hot Topic. Everything will be absolutely fine.” Virgil didn’t even realize how fast his breathing had gotten, and he took a moment to settle himself. “There you go,” Roman murmured. “None of that will happen, they have to recognize us, the writing's on our skin. We aren’t the first poly soulmates, and we won’t be the last. Their computers have backups, so our status wouldn’t be lost. And even if it did,” Here, he paused to press a gentle kiss to Virgil’s lips. “We wouldn’t love each other any less. I don’t need a piece of paper to tell me who my soulmates are.”

Virgil took a shuddering breath and then fell forward into Roman’s embrace. “Thank you Roman,” He whispered quietly. “Anytime, my dear,” He kissed his boyfriend on the top of his head. 

They stood there for a while, just enjoying each other’s presence when the door opened, signaling Patton’s return. 

“Roman? Virge?” 

“Up here Padre,” Roman called, not letting go of Virgil. Patton opened the door to the bedroom and saw his two boyfriends standing in the middle of the room, arms wrapped securely around each other. “Hey guys,” He greeted, much quieter this time, not wanting to disturb the peaceful silence.

_What happened?_ He mouthed to Roman from behind Virgil. Roman responded with the facial equivalent of a shrug, then mouthed _soulmate registry_ back at him. An emotion flickered across Patton’s face, too quick for him to decipher before it was gone.

Patton walked over to them and ran a hand through Virgil’s hair. “Hi sweetheart,” Virgil pulled back from Roman so he could face Patton properly. He studied Virgil’s face before reaching forward and pulling him into a hug of his own.

“Are you thinking about Logan?” Virgil nodded his head from where it was buried in Pat’s shoulder. 

Roman wanted to kick himself. Of _course_ that was what had gotten Virgil so worked up. He shifted uncomfortably and looked out the window. He had never received any messages from their fourth soulmate, himself being the last one to turn eighteen. And according to Patton and Virgil, Logan had already stopped writing by then.

His feelings about this Logan were mixed, Patton and Virgil spoke of how kind he was, but all Roman knew was that he had abandoned his soulmates and that he was a source of great distress for his two boyfriends.

Patton led Virgil to the bed and rubbed circles in his back, trying to sooth him. He felt just as lost, and was just as upset that tomorrow they would register as soulmates, but not all his soulmates would be there. Don’t get him wrong, he’s beyond thrilled and excited about doing this with Virgil and Roman, he loves them both and can’t wait for tomorrow. 

But it almost felt like a betrayal to the boy with the blue pen who hadn’t written in months.

///

They all fell asleep piled on top of each other, a tangle of limbs and blankets.

In an attempt to cheer up his boyfriends, Roman had suggested a movie marathon. Patton had jumped at the idea, and Virgil had said that it “wouldn’t be horrible.” But he was smiling when he said it.

They didn’t even make it three movies.

Roman and Patton fell asleep first with Virgil in between them, and Virgil had gently climbed out of the pile of limbs, turned off the tv, and grabbed some blankets. 

He covered his two boyfriends and turned to leave, planning to get some work done, but a hand reached out from under the blanket pile and grabbed his wrist.

“Stay an’ cuddle wi’ us Virge,” A very sleepy Patton mumbled, gently tugging on his arm.

And, well. Virgil could never say no to Patton.

In hindsight, 3 people sleeping on a couch that definitely wasn’t meant for sleeping (or more then one very tiny person) was not their greatest idea.

“ _Ouch_ , Princey, watch your elbows,”  
“It doesn’t help that you’re completely on top of me, how about you roll over so I can move without crushing you?”  
“Kiddo that’s my- OW-”  
“Sorry Patton!”  
“Oh God my neck _hurts,_ ” 

They eventually got themselves un-tangled (perhaps 4 blankets was a bit much?) and vertical. Roman glanced at his watch and let out a shocked gasp. “It’s so late! We’re gonna have to move quickly if we wanna make it to the registry on time.”

Virgil pulled out his phone and let out a similar gasp, quickly turning and jogging up the stairs two at a time. They heard him yell “Dibs on first shower!” And Patton chuckled as Roman made an offended sound and ran after him. 

It was Patton’s apartment, he and his parents had worked it out that he would return to the States for college while they stayed in Côte d'Ivoire, and his soulmates had spent almost the entire summer here. They hadn’t moved in, partly because Patton’s apartment was much too small for them, and partly because it simply wasn’t practical, all three of them were going to different colleges.

However, during their shared summer they had established a routine, and the way they all just flowed filled Patton with a type of happiness that comes with being content, a type of happiness that comes from being home.

These feelings oftentimes left a somewhat bitter taste in his mouth when he thought on them, because as well as they flowed, and as much as he felt at home with Roman and Virgil, he couldn’t help but feel that they were missing something, that the flow wasn’t quite complete, that he shouldn’t feel happy when they were missing a piece.

He felt guilty for being happy without Logan.

He frowned and tried to shake away the thoughts as he mixed pancakes batter. Today was a day for happiness, and he wouldn’t let negative thoughts pull him down.

By the time Roman and Virgil made it downstairs, affectionately shouldering each other, the figurative black cloud over his head was almost gone.

“Who wants Registration Day Pancakes? They’re,” He paused for a moment with a grin on his face, “Patton-pending!” 

The affectionate groan and quiet chuckle from his soulmates had the remaining negative thoughts disappear like smoke.

Virgil shot his parents a quick text to let them know they were leaving for the registry, and then dragged his boyfriends out the door. (“We’re going to be late!” “Virge, we have plenty of time-” “Not with highway traffic!” “My hair is not done-Virgil!” “Shut it Princey, you always look gorgeous.” Roman blushed to his ears and followed without further comment while Patton cooed.)

The ride consisted of Roman and Virgil fighting over control of the aux cord and Patton eventually taking away their music privileges. Virgil got quiet when they were almost there, and Roman climbed in the back to reassure him with his presence.

When the building came into sight, the yellow and purple words printed on the side naming it as the Soulmate Registration Office, Patton felt the full force of what was going to happen, and how monumental it was, hit him.

He parked and slowly stepped out of the car, his movements uncoordinated and jerky.

“Hey babe, you ready?” Patton turned his head to see Virgil and Roman holding hands, waiting expectantly.

He swallowed his nerves and smiled, feeling butterflies in his stomach accompanied by the warmth he always felt looking at his loves.

“Yeah.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I sat down and wrote almost all of this when I realized that updating today meant I will have updated every three days and I couldn’t sleep knowing that I would’ve messed up the numbers.  
> I hope it’s not too bad! (I was happy with it but now I’ve posted it and I’m not so sure.) Thank y’all so much for the sweet comments, I save every single one.  
> Next chapter, some information on Logan.
> 
> Peace! -Athena


	4. Chapter 4

_ Tap. Tap. Tap. _

 

Logan drummed his pen against the table, his eyes on the clock as the teacher talked about next week’s homework and deadlines.

 

Almost all schools had a ban against writing to your soulmate in class. It made sense, it was a distraction, a way to send secret messages, or cheat on tests. 

 

Not that Logan would ever dream of cheating on a test.

 

But today that rule was quickly becoming a major inconvenience.

 

Virgil drew on his skin when he was anxious as a way to calm himself down, and today Logan’s arms were covered in drawings that eventually devolved into swirls. He just wanted this class to be over so he could go comfort his soulmate.

 

Finally, the teacher dismissed the class. Logan was out of his seat before he had even finished talking. 

 

“Mr Young? Would you mind staying for a bit? I’d like to have a word with you.”

 

Logan took a deep breath in and tightened his grip on his bag before turning around to face his teacher. 

 

“Of course.” He liked Mr Sanders a lot, he was an excellent teacher and kept his class engaged, and usually he would’ve enjoyed a conversation with him. 

 

But right now he  _ sort of _ wanted to strangle the guy.

 

“I know that you’ve already decided on your major, and your aptitude for math would make you an excellent engineer, I don’t doubt that.” 

 

“Thank you, sir.”

 

Mr Sanders waved away the gratitude. “Anyone who's ever taught you is aware of your skills in the STEM classes. But I wanted to know,” He fixed Logan with a stare. “Have you ever considered a career in writing?”

 

Logan had a brief but vivid memory of his dad throwing away a paper with a bright red A+ circled on the top, along with a note asking if Logan would be able to meet with the creative writing teacher after school one day, his dad snarling that he would do no such thing.

 

“No sir, I can’t say I have.” “Please, call me Thomas. Why not? You have an A+ in this class, and everything you’ve turned in so far has been excellent, if not a bit stilted.”

 

Logan shifted uncomfortably and looked at the floor. Thomas continued to speak.

 

“All I’m saying is, you have a talent. It’s hidden, you’re not giving yourself completely to the writing, but it’s there. I’d like to see a bit more of Logan in your papers. You could go far, if you’re interested. I’m always free if you ever want to talk to me. Think about it, please.”

 

Journals being gathered up and thrown in the trash can, every English paper sneered at, a low, angry voice telling him that his writing was as worthless as him.

 

“I will sir.”

 

                                      ///

 

Logan slid down the wall and dropped his head into his hands. He took three deep breaths before lifting his head again with a neutral expression, lightly wiping at his face and pulling out a blue pen. He rolled up his sleeve and saw that Virgil had been shading in the swirls while he spoke with Mr Sanders.

 

_ Virgil? How are you doing? _

 

He waited, hoping he wasn’t too late to offer assistance. The shaky purple scrawl appeared under his message. 

 

_ Better. Not great. Distraction would be good.  _

 

Logan’s breath came out in a relieved sigh, pleased that he could be useful. That here, at least, his words weren’t worthless.

 

_ Alright. Are you familiar with the legend of the constellation Sagitta? _

 

                                    ///

 

When Logan came home, his dad's car wasn’t in the driveway, meaning he was either at church or ministering to someone. The quiet was nice, and he dropped his books on the kitchen table to do some studying.

 

He blew through stats homework and biology, the time ticking away as he worked. When he pulled out his English homework however, he stopped. The only thing left undone was the start of his midterm paper. 

 

When Mr Sanders assigned it, he said that ‘he didn’t care what is was about, as long as you’re passionate about it.’ It would’ve been easy as a research paper. They were cold, academic. Detached. Logan could write a good research paper.

 

But Mr Sanders didn’t want a good essay, he wanted an excellent one.

 

Logan stared at the blank document. The little cursor blinked back at him.  _ I want to see a little more Logan in your papers. _

 

He shut his laptop with a  _ click. _

 

He could always work on this later.

 

He leaned back in his chair and looked around the kitchen, wondering what he could find to eat when he felt the tingle of one of his soulmates leaving a message on his skin.

 

_ My parents wanted to meet my soulmates. Are either of you there? _

 

Logan pulled out his blue pen that he always used to write on his skin.  _ I am here, Patton. Hello Patton’s parents. I am Logan. _

 

When the yellow pen started writing again, this time it wasn’t Patton. 

 

_ Hello Logan! I’m Ivy, Patton’s mom.  _ And below her message, in blocky letters,  _ I’m Peter! The secondary parental unit.  _

 

The handwriting changed again. 

 

_ Patton tells us you live in Florida? That’s where I grew up :) _

 

_ Yes, I am a born and raised Floridian. Patton told me one of his parents was also from Florida? What part?  _

 

The messy scrawl, so similar to her son’s, appeared. _ Tallahassee. I met Patton’s father when he came to cheer for his football team. (He actually thought the Dolphins has a chance of winning, bless.) _

 

_ I must admit that I am not very well versed in football rivalries, or which team is superior. However, I am from Woodville. It’s amazing that my hometown and yours are so close. The odds of a connection like that must be infinitesimal. _

 

They really were, especially seeing as Patton currently resided in a different continent from him. Again, his mind drifted to the research paper.  _ It would be an interesting topic _ . His mind whispered. His attention was brought back to his arm when he realized it had stopped tingling.

 

_ Well, Patton tells us you’re in a lot of classes and I’m sure you’re busy with homework, so we won’t keep you. But it was lovely to meet you Logan! _

 

_ Pleased to make your acquaintance as well, Mrs Foster. _

 

Patton was the next one to write, his parents presumably having left.  _ Thanks for indulging them. They were a bit iffy about the whole multiple soulmates thing, but they really seemed to like you. (I didn’t expect anything less, you’re a wonderful conversationalist.) I’m going to bed now, don’t work yourself too hard Logan.  _

 

_ I won’t. Thank you Patton.  _

 

He capped his pen and opened up his computer again.

 

He had research to do.

 

                                    ///

 

Virgil sighed, leaning heavily against the door and dropping his book bag on the floor. He was tired from his anxiety attack earlier, (Seriously? At school? Like, god. Could anxiety have worse timing?) But the blue ink taking up most of his forearms filled him with a sense of calm.

 

Logan’s legend of Sagitta has proved to be a wonderful distraction, and Virgil found himself wondering how he had gotten so lucky as to end up with a soulmate he trusted.

 

He didn’t trust easily, but Logan’s calm, level headed demeanor had won him ever faster than he ever thought possible. And in the last month, he even found himself wanting to open up to Patton, the other teen having a bubbly personality that he would normally find exhausting, but with Patton it was a welcome change of pace from his own, darker, persona.

 

“Virgil? Honey?” Virgil’s mom stuck her head out of the kitchen and a corner of Virgil’s mouth ticked up in a smile. “Hey mom.”

 

His mom looked a bit frazzled, a bit tired, but she exuded a calming aura. Virgil made his way into the kitchen, where his mom was reheating leftover pizza. “Is mom working the night shift tonight?” She hummed and grabbed a pair of oven mitts. “No, she should be off soon. We can eat together for once.”

 

She slid the tray onto the counter and pulled her hair back into a ponytail. Virgil hopped up on the counter and the sleeves of his hoodie rose up, his mom’s eyes flicking to his forearm. “How’re Logan and Patton?” She asked with a smile. He felt a slight blush creep up his cheeks and pulled his sleeves back down. “They’re good,” He mumbled.

 

His moms had been so chill with his poly soulmates, he thanked the stars for that every day. It made sense that they were, he supposed, seeing as their relationship was far from typical. His mom, Alana, never had any writing appear on her arm. She didn’t have a soulmate. 

 

It happened, sometimes. 

 

Most people were disappointed by their lack of a soulmate, it drove some people into a deep depression that they never recovered from. But his mom had always told him that she felt didn’t need Fate to assign her a soulmate to be happy. She lived her life as normally as possible, and then fell in love with Hannah, his other mom. 

 

Hannah had fallen just as hard, and the two ended up in a committed relationship. To the best of Virgil’s knowledge, Hannah did have writing appear on her skin on her 18th birthday, but neither of his moms ever spoke about it, and he didn’t ask

 

Since they weren’t soulmates, they couldn’t legally get married, and they faced a lot of hate and disapproval from society and their parents for not being soulmates, but they never cared.

 

They had moved in together, and a few years later they adopted Virgil. Every day they seemed to fall a little bit more in love, and Virgil liked to think that his unorthodox family had taught him a thing or two about love and acceptance.

 

The sound of the front door opening has his mom’s face light up. “I’m home!” She came into the kitchen, her tired face breaking into a genuine smile at the sight of Alana.

 

“C’mon guys, get a room,” Virgil grumbled as Alana dragged her into a hard kiss. “It’s healthy to see your parents show affection Virgil,” Hannah scolded playfully.

 

“Not in the kitchen, and not like that,” He teased, and she laughed before sitting down. Alana grabbed plates for all of them before sitting down across from Virgil. They ate in comfortable silence for a while, but Hannah, ever observational, noticed the exhausted slump of her son’s shoulders. 

 

“You look tired,” She commented, catching her partner’s eye. “Bad day?” Virgil went to nod, but it wasn’t really a bad day. Nothing was wrong. Sure, he had had an anxiety attack come out of nowhere, but Logan had helped calm him down. He didn’t want to bother his moms.

 

He shook his head instead. 

 

“Just a long day. I’m all good guys.” 

 

They didn’t look convinced, and he saw her face crease with a frown. Suddenly he didn’t feel hungry. 

 

“I actually think I’m gonna go to bed early.”

He stood, throwing his barely touched pizza away. “Thanks for dinner.” He kissed both of them on the cheek and left the kitchen.

 

The last thing he wanted was to worry them. And if that meant talking less about his problems, then it seemed like a fair trade.

 

He missed the worried look they shared as he headed to his room.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello hello!   
> Wow look at me, I wrote this (almost 2000 words!) in three days.  
> Someone help me I can't write lesbian moms. (How to refer?? Both mom? Names? If someone has a suggestion let me know in the comments please.)  
> I'm not happy with the ending but I rewrote it 7 times and I think this is as good as its gonna get.  
> 1 comment = 5 years added to my life span.  
> (I read and save every single one y'all.)  
> Next chapter, more world building! It should be out on the 15th if I can stay on schedule.  
> Peace!   
> -Athena


	5. Chapter 5

Patton and Roman stood in front of the registry, watching as Virgil hugged his moms. They were both here alone, Patton’s parents being just a bit too far away for them to be here, and Roman’s mom had been unable to make it, but she sent her well wishes.

 

“Hi Miss Hannah, Miss Alana,” Roman greeted. They both pulled him into a hug in response, and Roman tried to hug them both back as best he could.

 

Virgil’s moms were probably the nicest people Roman knew. They lived relatively close to Patton’s apartment, and from the first day they met Roman and Patton, they had treated them like their own sons.

 

Hannah worked almost all the time, but Alana had a bit more flexibility to her schedule and  _ always _ took time out of it to swing by the apartment and check up on Patton.

 

When Patton first came to the States and met his soulmates, and their parents, Patton’s parents had been... _ alarmed _ when they heard that Patton was spending time around people who choose to be in a relationship with someone other than their soulmate. And he had received a phone call from them where they urged him to “stay away from “those ungodly people”.

 

Patton had politely explained that Hannah and Alana were some of the kindest people he had met, not to mention the mothers of his soulmate, and that he would not cut contact with them, and suggested that they take a step back and see if God thought their bigotry was acceptable.

 

His parents had been upset, and so was Patton, but he told Virgil that his parents were wrong, and he wasn’t going to do something that didn’t sit right with him to make them happy.

 

Virgil had kissed him for the first time before he was even done talking.

 

Roman was pulled out of his thoughts by Virgil tapping him on the shoulder. “Ready Princey?”

 

He smiled and pulled Virgil into his side.

 

“Of course,”

 

                                      ///

 

“Leave it to government to take something as wonderful as being soulmates and turn it into a mountain of paperwork,” Virgil grumbled, signing another form. “My hand is cramping up.”

 

“This is possibly the most unromantic thing I’ve ever done with you guys, and it’s supposed to be one of the best days of our lives!” Roman said in agreement.

 

Patton didn’t join in their complaints, his attention was stuck on one of the last questions they had to answer.

 

**_Poly. Soulmates:_ **

_ Please remember that all living soulmates must be registered at the same time. Any application for registry after the date of first application will be null. Re-registration is  _ _ not _ _ permitted in this case. _

 

_ All soulmates _ . 

 

His heart clenched painfully as he stared at the page. After a while, his boyfriends noticed his silence. “Pat? Everything ok?”

 

Patton looked up with tears in his eyes. “Patton? Hey, what’s wrong dearest?” Roman got up and kneeled next to him. Patton handed him the paper and squeezed his eyes shut. 

 

He heard the paper rustle and then warm arms wrap around him. He opened his eyes to see Roman holding him tightly and Virgil holding the paper with shaky hands.

 

“Does this-what does this mean? Does this mean what I think it does?” Virgil asked, face pale as a sheet.

 

Hannah and Alana noticed the upset, and despite promising they would leave them alone during the process, made their way over.

 

“What’s wrong? Sweetie?” Alana’s eyes were filled in concern as she took in her son’s distressed condition. 

 

Keeping eye contact with Virgil, Patton choked out. “If we register today, any other soulmates would never be able to register with us.”

 

“So…” 

 

“So Logan would never, legally, be our soulmate,”  _ If we ever found him. _

 

Virgil turned to his moms. “But that’s, that’s ok. Right? You guys aren’t ‘soulmates’ but you love each other and live together, so it’s fine. We could just be unregistered,” Alana pulled him into a hug, and she was crying too.

 

“Honey, I love your mom very much, and I wouldn’t change our relationship for anything, but living unregistered isn’t something I’d want for you. You don’t have the same rights. You wouldn’t be able to adopt, you wouldn’t be able to make medical decisions on behalf of your soulmate, you won’t be able to get insurance together,” She paused and cupped his face. “I don’t want you and your soulmates to go through what Hannah and I did.” Hannah came forward to hold her son’s hand. “And if you registered without him and then found him… Can you imagine how he would feel?” Virgil leaned into their touch and Patton buried his face in Roman’s shoulder, just breathing his scent.

 

There was silence as they all processed this information.

 

“So,” Roman started somberly. “I guess we have a decision to make.”

 

Virgil jerked his head up. “What do you mean? No we don’t.” 

 

“Virge,” Roman started.

 

“No! This isn’t even a question. We’re not registering without him!” He shrugged out of his mom’s embrace to frown at his boyfriend.”Virgil,” Patton murmured softly, trying to sooth him. 

“No Pat, no! We will  _ wait. _ ” 

 

“Virgil, its been months-” Roman started again, his heart breaking for his boyfriends, but he felt resigned.

 

“I’m not giving up on him Ro.” The crack in his boyfriend’s voice was enough to make his shoulders slump, all the fight going out of him. He glanced over to Patton, who was silently crying, and walked forward to embrace Virgil in a hug.

 

“We’ll wait.”

 

///

 

Virgil’s moms wanted him to come home with them after the emotional visit to the SR, but Virgil had just wanted to be with his boyfriends. He promised them he would call tonight, and come home tomorrow to spend the day with them. The car ride home was silent. Patton was emotionally exhausted from the day and fell asleep almost immediately, and Virgil and Roman rode in slightly tense silence.

 

Their first ever fight had been about Logan. Virgil insisting that Roman didn’t get it because he hadn’t known him, and that he didn’t understand what it was like to lose a soulmate. And Roman had responded that ‘he must be some soulmate if he would abandon you.’

 

They hadn’t spoken for almost two days, but Patton had worn them down, and they made up with lots of tears and hugs. (And so many apologies.) But since then, it was a topic they tried to avoid. (Roman always hugged him a little tighter when he noticed messages to Logan on Virgil’s arms, though.) 

 

(He no longer wrote any messages.)

 

Virgil fiddled with the sleeves of his hoodie, occasionally glancing over at Roman. He bit his lip. He wanted to say something, searching for the right words, but they all came up short of leaving his mouth. The silence was making him anxious. He was saved from having to start an awkward conversation when Roman broke the silence.

 

“Virgil. I’m…sorry about today. I know that I never knew him, and that I don’t really understand what your relationship was like, but I am doing my best.”

 

His words hung heavy in the air. Virgil felt relief wash over him. 

 

“Thank you Roman. I know- I know you’re trying, and I appreciate it. I’m also sorry for today. I know we were all so excited but-” He stopped, looking back at his hands and sighing. “It didn’t feel right. I always feel so  _ guilty _ being happy without him. And it feels like...like something’s  _ missing _ . Like something’s  _ wrong.  _ And that’s not a comment on you guys, I love you and Pat s _ o much. _ It’s just…” He trailed off eyes firmly fixed on the road.

 

“Something’s missing. I know.” He glanced over at Virgil, who seemed ready to drop the conversation. “I love you.”

 

Virgil looked at him, a tired smile gracing his lips. “I love you too.”

 

Patton, who had just awoken from his nap, also interjected with a, very sleepy, “I love both of you more. What’re we talking ‘bout?”

 

Virgil chuckled. “Nothing, Padre. We’re all good.” 

 

Roman intertwined his fingers with Virgil’s and smiled back at Patton.

 

If they weren’t 100% good, that was ok. They would figure it out together.

 

                                    ///

 

Roman dropped his boyfriends off at their apartment, both of them exhausted from the day. He decided to head to the local coffee shop to clear his head.

 

The shop, Rise and Grind, was a favorite haunt of his. It also had the added perk of being super close to his college campus. The smell of fresh coffee washed over him as he entered, and he took a deep, appreciative breath.

 

He made his way over to the counter, and smiled when he saw his favorite barista was there. “Afternoon L.” “Hey Roman,” he greeted tiredly. Upon closer inspection, Roman noticed the horrible dark bags under L’s eyes, and the exhausted slump of his normal perfect posture.

 

“What’s up? You look dead on your feet,” L sighed but didn’t respond. “Can I take your order please?” Roman frowned, but consented, ordering a single shot of espresso. L wrote his name on his cup, accepted his payment, and started on his drink.

 

Roman learned against the counter while he waited for his drink. The shop was empty, save for one sleep deprived college student typing away at a laptop and holding their mug of coffee like it was the only thing keeping them sane. The lack of people was very unusual for this time of day, and L appeared to be the only employee here.

 

Roman was intrigued by L, and would be lying if he said the man wasn’t a big part of what drew him to this coffee shop. L, who always wore long sleeves despite them not being a part of the uniform. L, who helped Roman with homework the few times he had pulled all nighters at the shop. L, who was quiet and attractive and smart.

 

L handed Roman his coffee, he thanked him and headed over to a booth. 

 

He drank the espresso quickly, appreciating the bitter flavor. He was scrolling through Instagram when he heard the sound of ceramic shattering

 

He jerked up, realizing that the college student from earlier had accidentally knocked their mug off the table. “Shit! I’m so sorry,” They apologized, grabbing some napkins and dabbing at the mess. Roman spotted L staring at the shattered mug with a white face, shaking like a leaf. He started to slide down the wall to sit on the floor his eyes huge as he continued to shake.

 

Roman was out of his seat in an instant, having helped Virgil through enough of them to recognize a panic attack.

 

“Hey L,” He said as he squatted next to the man. “You’re ok, deep breaths. Everything is ok. Can I touch you?” L made a strangled sound and his breathing quickened, his hands clenching in his hair. “Ok, ok, I won’t touch you. Can you breathe with me L? In for four….” L took in a deep breath, but it all came out in a gasp immediately afterward. “That’s ok, let's try again yeah? In for four…hold for seven...out for eight. Great job L, you’re going amazing. And again, in for four,” He breathed with L until his breathing was under control, and Roman reached out to gently pull his hands out of his hair. “There you go,” He murmured gently.

 

He glanced behind him and saw that the college student had respectively pretended not to be paying attention, keeping their gaze focused on their laptop.

 

He looked back at L and lifted his hands to wipe away his tears. L flinched at the contact, and Roman immediately dropped his hands. “You with me L?” 

 

“I am present, yes.” L murmured quietly. “I apologize for my outburst-” Roman cut him off with a tut. “None of that. There’s no reason to apologize. I’m just glad I could help.” L kept his eyes down. “Well, thank you Roman. Your help was much appreciated.”

 

“No problem. Do you want to talk about it…?” He left the offer open, hoping to be of some assistance to L, who looked so much smaller right now. 

 

“I’d rather not. Thank you for the offer.”

 

“Ok. Will you be ok getting home? Do you need a ride?”

 

“My shift is not over, I’m afraid. I will remain here for most of the day.” At Roman’s frown, however, he sighed. “But when my coworker Remy comes in, I believe I will ask him if he can cover the rest of my shift.” L did seem more present, much more grounded, and Roman trusted his judgment. “Well if you’re sure.”

 

“I am. Thank you Roman. Have a nice day.” 

 

“You too, L.” 

 

Roman left the shop a couple minutes later, after being absolutely sure that L was ok. On the drive home, he mulled over the strong feeling in his chest, trying to decipher what it was. It wasn’t until he parked at Patton’s apartment did he realize what it was.

 

_ Oh. Shit. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello lovelies!!  
> I’m sorry if there was any confusion with this chapter, I updated it, then had an idea that I desperately wanted to put in, so I deleted it, wrote the last part, and now I’m posting it again.  
> I like it much better now, and I hope you do too!  
> See you in three days with chapter 6 (Shit’s gonna get real. I’m so excited.)  
> Also!! If any of you want to check me out on Tumblr, I’m over at DemigodNamedAthena there, and my writing blog is athena-rambles.  
> Peace!! -Athena


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello beautiful people!  
> This chapter contains a pretty graphic description of child abuse, and the theme of the whole thing is dealing with child abuse both emotional and physical. There’s also a description of a person being burned.  
> Please stay safe! If those things trigger you then please skip this chapter.  
> If you’d like a (description free) recap of the events of this chapter so you don’t miss the important plot going on then feel free to either leave a comment or message me on Tumblr and I’ll give you one. Enjoy <3

Logan sighed and got out of his chair to go walk around. He wandered the shelves of the library, breathing deeply, the scent of books filling his lungs. He took off his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose, feeling a headache coming on.

 

He glanced at his watch.  _ 4:52 _

 

The library would be closing soon. He tried to ignore the heavy ache in his chest at the thought of going home. He took a moment longer to appreciate the calmness of the library before gathering his stuff and heading for the exit.

 

He waved a goodbye to the librarians and headed home. He had walked to the library this morning, when the crisp October air had felt nice. Now that evening was rapidly approaching and he was jacketless, he regretted his decision.

 

Logan clutched his bag a little tighter and sped up his walk. Reluctance at going home fading with the cold that sunk into his bones. A cold gust swept over him and he shivered.  _ Note to self, don’t leave the house without a jacket _ .

 

He breathed a sigh of intense release as he rounded the corner and recognized his apartment complex. He went up the stairs two steps at a time and his frozen fingers fumbled with his keys. He finally got the door unlocked and stepped inside, the warmth wrapping around him like a blanket. But the warmth was only bone deep, and he felt a cold pit of dread settle in his stomach as he looked around the apartment. 

 

His dad’s jacket and keys were gone, meaning his dad wasn’t here. 

 

His dad wasn’t home much these days.

 

Logan didn’t mind.

 

He dropped his bag on the table and pulled out the books he had checked out from the library. 

_ Soulmates Through History, Soulmates: Science or Magic? _ , and _ Famous Polyamorous Soulmates.  _ Mr Sanders had been after him to choose a subject for his paper that he felt personally connected to. When he had, hesitantly, introduced the idea of doing a paper about the science behind soulmates, Mr Sanders had been skeptical. But when Logan had explained that he was curious about the subject because he had multiple soulmates, his face had lit had.

 

_ Now you’ve got the idea Logan.  _

 

He had been hesitant about doing a personal topic, but Mr Sanders had been encouraging him through his doubts, and eventually he settled on it and got to work on finding sources. He opened the first book,  _ Soulmates Through History _ , and began to read.

 

He was two chapters in when a gentle tingle on his arm broke his focus. He smiled at it message, a little goodnight note from Patton. He sent one every night around 10pm his time. It never failed to make Logan smile.  _ Goodnight Patton. Sleep well. _

 

_ Night Pat! _ Virgil’s purple pen wrote. Patton drew a small heart right in the center of his wrist, and that was the end of his message. Logan smiled at the messages a little while longer before going back to his book, now much more interested in the topic.

 

He reads in quiet and for a while, everything is peaceful.

 

Logan hears keys jingle at the door and his whole body tenses. The door creaks open, and his dad’s footsteps echo through the apartment. He closes the book and sets it on the table, rising to greet his dad.

 

“Good evening father.” His dad turns and looks at Logan, his gaze souring with distaste. Logan doesn’t wince. He’s used to it by now. His dad’s eyes sweep up and down Logan critically, and his eyes settle on his arm. Logan’s heart rate increases dramatically, and he tries not to flinch when his dad stalks forward.

 

“You been writing to your soulmate again?”

 

Logan keeps his eyes down when he says, “Soulmates, actually. And yes. I was wishing them a goodnight.” 

 

“Look me in the eye when you speak boy.” He raises his eyes to look his dad in the eye, and wants to shrink back at the anger he sees there. “I don’t want you writing to them anymore. It’s unnatural. People are supposed to have one soulmate, and they’re supposed to stay with them until they die. Better to have no soulmate than to be a freak of nature like you.”

 

“Dad-“ He starts to say something in defense of himself, but is cut off by a slap to his face.

 

His mouth falls open, his hand going to his face on instinct.

 

“Don’t you even think about talking back to me. Now I don’t want to catch you writing to them again. You hear me?”

 

Logan tries to keep his tears from falling. He does, but it’s a close thing. He wants to argue, to tell his dad where he can take his bigotry and  _ shove it _ , but one look at his dad’s face has the arguments dying on his lips.

 

“Yes sir.”

 

                            ///

 

Logan doesn’t sleep that night.

 

As he pulls himself out of bed to ready himself for school, he absently wonders if this was how Virgil often felt. He made a mental note to make sure Virgil got more sleep. The thought of his soulmate feeling like this often upset him.

 

His dad was already gone when Logan made his way downstairs. He wouldn’t deny the small sigh of relief that left him. Logan made a beeline for the coffee pot, appreciating both the warmth of the mug in his hands and the warmth of the liquid in my stomach. He sat at the table and drank his coffee quietly. 

 

At 6:30, he grabbed his bag and his jacket and left for school.

 

Throughout the day, Patton wrote, and he didn’t respond. Virgil wrote, and he didn’t respond. The day passed like molasses, his tired brain barely processing the information. When he arrived at the library at 3:37, he couldn’t have told you anything he did that day.

 

The familiar tingle alerted him to a soulmate message, but he ignored it in favor of opening his laptop. He really should get started on that paper…

 

                           ///

 

He left the library right before closing, and walked home, this time clad in a jacket. His dad wasn’t there when he got home, and he went straight to his room, toeing off his shoes and plopping down in the bed.

 

_ Hello Virgil. Hello Patton. I apologize for my absence today. I did not sleep well last night and I have been functioning at less than optimal level. I plan to retire early tonight, and should be better in the morning. _

 

Immediately a message from Patton appeared. 

 

_ That’s all right kiddo! Get some sleep. We can talk tomorrow!  _

 

And directly below it, the familiar purple ink.

 

_ As long as you’re ok. I was worried about you Lo. Talk in the morning. _

 

Logan sighed and flopped backwards on his bed. Maybe he could take a quick nap before dinner…

 

                            ///

 

The next week passed in a similar fashion. Logan continued to get little to no sleep, and he stopped writing to his soulmates. Every day, he put on long sleeves so he didn’t have to deal with the guilt he felt from reading and ignoring their messages. His exhaustion dripped off him, and the amount of coffee he consumed far exceeded what could be considered healthy.

 

He also avoided his dad, which hasn’t been hard as his dad had been oddly absent from the house lately. 

 

Not that Logan was complaining.

 

It was a Friday, and Logan was watching a ridiculous conversation take place on his forearm. Virgil, the stereotypical emo kid, appeared to be having some sort of mental breakdown. Patton had never celebrated Halloween, and when Virgil mentioned being excited for it, had inquired as to what was so great about the holiday?

 

For the past 5 minutes Virgil had been ranting about Halloween and its importance to (meme culture?). He had also listed, in order, his favorite parts about Halloween. (And the entire month of October.) 

 

Logan was torn between confusion and affection as he watched his soulmates discuss the word “spoopy”. 

 

They ran out of room on his right arm and the writing stopped momentarily. All three of them were left handed, so all the writing appeared on their non dominate arms. 

 

But apparently the physical limitations of handed-ness wasn’t strong enough to stop the conversation in its tracks, and the purple words continued on his left arm. (They were completely illegible, but the action was so  _ Virgil _ that Logan couldn’t help laughing, drawing the attention of other students in the cafeteria.)

 

His arms were covered in the purple and blue ink of his soulmates when he left school, and Logan almost regretted putting on his jacket and covering the words, they filled him with such happiness.

 

The walk to the library was short, thankfully, as the weather was uncomfortably cold, even with his jacket. As he sat as his usual table, it occurred to him that he spent more time at the library then he did at his own home. He had turned in his proposed thesis, supporting points, and rough outline to Mr Sanders today, and there wasn’t really a point in working on his essay without feedback, so he decided to get started on his Monday homework.

 

He worked right up until closing time like he always did, and waved goodbye to Amelia, the librarian, as he left. It was pleasantly cool outside, and Logan left his jacket off so he could enjoy the unusual Florida weather. 

 

He stopped in the Rise and Grind to get a cup of coffee on the way home, greeting Remy and breathing in the scent of coffee beans.

 

“Girl, when you coming back to work with me?” Remy asked as he rang Logan up. “I’m bored without your dull commentary to laugh at.”

 

“I’m scheduled for next week. I am sure that you will be able to cope till then without me.” Logan said drily. Remy huffed and handed him his coffee, but smiled genuinely at the tip that Logan put in jar. “Have a good night Remy,” Logan said and turned to leave.

 

As he approached his apartment, he felt one of his soulmates writing to him and looked down to see that Patton was drawing little hearts all over his hand. He smiled at the hearts and watched as they continued to appear, unlocking and opening the door without looking.

 

“You’re home late.”

 

Logan froze and stiffened. He lifted his gaze to where his dad was standing in the kitchen, the coffee machine brewing away next to him. 

 

“I was at the library.” Logan said quietly, maintaining eye contact despite how badly he wanted to avert his gaze. His dad frowned and poured himself a cup of coffee without looking away from Logan. His eyes traveled down and Logan’s blood ran cold as he realized that all of Patton’s and Virgil’s writings were covering his arm like a sleeve.

 

His dad’s eyes darkened dangerously.

 

“You been writing to them again? Huh?”

 

Logan remained silent.

 

“ Answer me!”

 

Logan gulped but stood his ground. “No, sir. That’s all them.” His dad crossed the kitchen to him and gripped his arm tightly.

 

_ “I don’t believe you,”  _ He hissed in his ear. 

 

Logan could smell the alcohol on his breath.

 

“I haven’t been, I promise-please let me go,” His dad dragged him across the kitchen, his grip so tight Logan worried he would leave bruises. “No son of mine is going to be a freak like you.And I’m going to make sure you remember that.”

 

Logan’s pleas were cut short by his dad pouring the scalding hot coffee over both his arms. 

 

The pain was so much so that Logan thought he might black out. When his senses returned to him briefly afterward, he tried to jerk his arm out of his dad’s cruel grip. He was aware of his dad speaking, but it was barely heard over the ringing in his ears. 

 

“Now I don’t have to see those unnatural markings anymore,” He sneered, pushing Logan backwards so his back hit the counter. “Clean up this mess boy. I want it gone when I come back.”

 

And then his dad was gone, and Logan fell to the floor, his breathing coming in short gasps. He hurt like nothing he had ever felt before, and while Logan wasn’t religious he was sure that this was what damned souls felt. He managed to get off the floor and stumble to the sink.

 

_ Cold water, must get cold water. _

 

The cold water both soothed and made it burn worse, but Logan held his arms under the stream for well over a minute. He eventually pulled his arm away and gingerly tried to pat it dry. The contact with his raw skin made him screech in pain instead, and he immediately dropped the towel. 

 

It landed in the puddle of coffee.

 

For some reason, it was this that had him sobbing, knees hitting the floor as the weight of what had happened his him. When he had previously been hyperventilating over the pain, now he just sat in the floor and sobbed, clutching his maimed arm to his chest.

 

He briefly wondered if his soulmates could feel the pain he was feeling. 

 

The thought made him laugh.

 

_ Shock, you’re going into shock. _

 

Ah. That made sense. But what to do about it?  _ Lay down, he had to lay down. _ Somewhere in his mind, he knew what he should be doing, knew that he should call 911. But perhaps that could wait…

 

  ///

 

Virgil paced his room, an agitated mess. He hadn’t received a message from Logan in eight days.

 

_ What if he’s hurt what if he’s sick what is he’s in trouble what if he’s in danger what if he’s _ **_dead._ **

 

The thoughts wouldn’t stop coming. Wouldn’t stop spinning. His breaths came shorter and shorter, and he grabbed his pen and scribbled out a weak  _ Pat  _ on his arm.

 

Almost immediately, the soothing sensation of someone writing came. Patton wrote out his breathing pattern and was drawing circles on his arm in a repetitive motion that was oddly calming. Virgil followed the counts and the motion of the circles until he felt like he could breathe again.

 

_ Thank you Pat _ .

 

_ Anytime kiddo! You feeling better? Do you want to talk about it? _

 

A pause, and then he was back.

 

_ Was it Logan? _

 

Virgil sighed and settled down on his bed.

 

_ I can’t help it Pat. I’m so worried…what if- _

 

_ Nope! None of that Virgil. I’m sure Logan is fine. Now I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t worried, but let’s give Lo the benefit of the doubt. _

 

_ I guess you’re right.  _ A pause.  _ I’m still gonna worry though. _

 

_ Of course you are.  _ Virgil could almost hear Patton laughing, and he felt himself smile.

 

When he met Patton in person, he was going to give him the biggest hug possible.

 

                            ///

 

Logan studiously ignored the way his arm tingled as he got ready for school. It was easier to ignore the guilt of ignoring his soulmates when he didn’t have to read their messages.

 

He made his way downstairs as quietly as possible and breathed a sigh of relief when he was sure his dad was out of the house. Before he left, he got the first aid kit out from where he had hidden it under the sink and carefully unwrapped his arms.

 

The skin underneath was blistered and oozing and red. Logan grimaced as he disinfected his wounds before redressing them. He put a long sleeved shirt on to cover the bandages. 

 

No reason to expose himself and invite questions he couldn’t answer.

 

In the two weeks since he stopped writing to his soulmates, he had withdrawn into himself further and further. No one knew him well enough to notice. Or care.

 

Remy took his new silence as exhaustion from midterms and simply filled the quiet with his own chatter.

 

Mr Sanders had a frown on his face and worry in his eyes when he looked at Logan in class, so Logan kept his head down.

 

He changed his research paper topic from soulmates. When Mr Sanders asked about it, he said he didn’t find the topic interesting.

 

That wasn’t the truth. He had changed because it was too painful to write. But that wasn’t something Mr Sanders needed to know.

 

And if he felt like his heart was being emptied of all emotions and leaving him numb and cold? 

 

Well. 

 

That was no one’s burden to bear but his own.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The reveal! We finally know what happened to Logan!  
> I...have mixed feelings about this chapter. The scene with Logan and his dad is actually what inspired this whole freaking fic (I’m a sadist, sue me.) But I’m also worried as to how this might be interpreted. So I guess let me know what you thought in the comments?  
> Your support continues to mean the world to me! Every single comment makes my heart jump around in my chest, but in a good way.  
> Also, if you wanna yell at me on [Tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/demigodnamedathena) There’s that.  
> Next chapter, Roman learns more about the ~mysterious~ L  
> Chapter 7 might be late, I will try my best to get it done on time but it’s midterms and there’s A Lot going on right now for me.  
> Peace! -Athena


	7. Chapter 7

Roman stood in front of his mirror, eyes scrutinizing every inch of himself.

 

It was Patton’s mirror, actually. It was Patton’s mirror, in Patton’s room, in Patton’s apartment. He had gotten so used to thinking of things in terms of  _ theirs _ that he forgot how fragile that word was.

 

He kept staring at the mirror. Wondering if his traitorous heart showed on his face.

 

Roman had always known he was gay. It was a natural part of him that made sense. After his first boyfriend in high school, however, when he found his eyes wandering without his affection dimming, he began to wonder if there was something else he was missing.

 

Polyamorous. That was the word he had found after several internet searches and much perusing of Tumblr. (He was going through a phase, ok?) 

 

T he philosophy or state of being in love or romantically involved with more than one person at the same time. That was it. He had loved Justin, and knew he didn’t love him any less just because he also had feelings for Mark. Justin hadn’t understood or agreed with him though, and they broke up shortly after Roman told him. When he left, Justin had asked Roman how he would explain himself to his soulmate.  _ They’ll be your soulmate, the person made for you. Imagine how disappointed they’ll be that you have wandering eyes. I’d suggest doing something about that. _

 

So, on his 18th birthday, Roman had been shaking with nerves as he stared at his arms. He had been in other relationships since Justin, met, and loved, other people. He had talked to people who accepted him as polyamorous, but they all said the same thing.

 

_ When you get a soulmate, you’ll understand. _

 

Soulmate. One. Singular.

 

And then, miracle of miracles. Two lines of ink on his arms, two people on the other end of his red string of Fate.

 

He’d be lying if he said he didn’t cry.

 

His mom was distressed at first, but with most things in Roman’s life, she eventually became too busy to be concerned. But for Roman, he hadn’t ever been happier. He wasn’t  _ confused  _ or a  _ cheater.  _ He knew who he was, and Fate was on his side even when other people weren’t.

 

Now, he stands in front of a mirror in his soulmate’s house as his heart strains towards another person, and he feels like he’s a teenager again, sure that something was wrong with him.

 

He looks for evidence of that wrongness on his face, but he just sees himself. His face as it always looks, no outward signs of his internal struggle. Patton calls his name from the kitchen, and he finally breaks gaze with his reflection.

 

“Coming dearest!”

 

He leaves the hurt upstairs with his reflection, determined to enjoy the morning with his soulmate. 

 

                                  ///

 

Virgil, true to his word, had returned home to be with his moms for a bit after the whole Registry fiasco. He was currently sitting in the living room with his earbuds in, drowning himself in music.

 

Hannah was leaving for work in an hour and he could hear her bustling about in the kitchen. They hadn’t talked yet, and he was trying to avoid the inevitable conversation.

 

When Logan first stopped writing, his moms had been concerned of course, and wanted details, pressing him to talk. Virgil hadn’t wanted to, and really dug in his heels, refusing to talk. They backed off when they realized that he wouldn’t discuss the matter.

 

Logan was a topic they danced around, but after yesterday Virgil knew they would have to have a conversation about. Doesn’t mean he couldn’t try his best to delay it.

 

So. Earbuds. 

 

He heard Hannah approaching, and tried to sink into the couch, shutting his eyes tightly. He felt the couch dip under her weight and she gently tapped his shoulder. Virgil cracked one eye to look at her. She smiled gently and he sighed before taking out his earbuds.  

 

They sat in silence for a moment, Virgil with his 

head down as he fiddled with his hoodie strings. He had a brief memory of his boyfriends giving it to him on their 6 month anniversary; Roman’s shy smile when he said that he had designed it, and Patton proudly explaining that he had sewed it. Their love made the hoodie feel warmer, softer.

 

“Virgil,” His mom started, and he reluctantly lifted his eyes to her face. “I wanted to tell you that your mom and I are very proud of you for the decision you made yesterday. It was very mature of you to think about how what you did would effect Logan,” She reached out and took his hands in hers.

 

“I met my soulmate on my 18th birthday and moved in with her later that year. It was good for a while. But as time went on…” She trailed off and stared at a spot just over Virgil’s shoulder. “She was hurting. She needed help that she refused to get, and people I reached out to insisted that just being with me would be enough. They told me that I should register, that solidifying the relationship would help. I knew it wouldn’t, and I wasn’t willing to try with someone who didn’t seem to be all in.” Virgil listened quietly, soaking in the information. Neither of his moms ever talked about Hannah’s past.

 

“Things got bad, then they got worse. She wouldn’t help herself and I couldn’t help her, and one day I left. And I  _ mourned  _ for her. I always felt like something was missing.” Virgil squeezed her hands and she smiled at him. “Then I met your mom and I felt whole again. She was patient and quiet and gentle, and I fell for her instantly.” She wiped tears off her face, and looked him right in the eye. “You know what’s best for you, and if your gut tells you to wait for this boy, then you wait for this boy. Fate knew what it was doing when it led me to your mom, and it knew what it was doing when it gave me my soulmate. Sometimes you have to walk down the path a little farther to find the destination you want.”

 

Virgil was crying now, his eyeshadow smearing even as he tried to blot then away. He launched himself at his mom and hugged her tightly. She hugged him back just as tight. 

 

“Patton would be proud of this hug,” She whispered in his hair. Virgil chuckled wetly. “He would be,” He responded, pulling away to wipe at his eyes.

 

They sat together in comfortable silence for a bit, Virgil leaning his head on her shoulder. She stood up eventually, dropping a kiss on his forehead. “Love you Virgil,” She grabbed her bag and headed to the door.

 

“Love you too mom,” He smiled after her as the door shut. The apartment settled into an easy silence. He put his earbuds back in, leaning back into the couch and closing his eyes with a content sigh.

 

                                  ///

 

Roman reluctantly pulled himself away from Patton’s lips. “Pat-” Patton hummed against his lips and kissed him again. “Patton I need to go home-” Patton rolled on top of him. “Noooooo. Stay here tonight, please.” Roman leaned up to kiss him. “You know how hard it is for me to say no to you.” Patton giggled.

 

“It’s cause you loveeee me,”

 

Roman wrapped his arms around him. “Indeed I do, dearest.” Patton responded by kissing down his neck, causing Roman to arch up into his touch.

 

He and Patton had had a lovely breakfast together, and what had started as innocent cuddling on the couch had turned into a makeout session.

 

Patton’s hands inched under his shirt, pushing it up to his armpits. Patton dragged his fingers down his sides, his hands hit against his skin. and Roman broke the kiss, breathing hard. “Um, maybe we should…” 

 

“Yeah,” Patton agreed, Roman flushing down his chest. Patton moved and allowed Roman to sit up. There was a momentary awkward silence as they righted their clothes. Roman broke it by smiling at Patton. “Do you want some coffee?”

 

“That’d be great. You wanna go get it while I wait for Virge?” 

 

“It’s a plan.” Roman pulled out his pen and wrote on his arm.

 

_ Hey Virgil. I’m going to get some coffee. Want any? _

 

He kissed Patton and got off the couch. “Write me your order?” Patton smiled and nodded. “Ok. I’ll be back!” He hopped in his car, feeling his arm tingle as he pulled out of the driveway. He didn’t check it until he arrived at Rise and Grind, relishing in the cool air inside.

 

_ White chocolate mocha please! _

 

_ Would you get me a caramel macchiato with a triple shot of espresso Ro? _

 

_ Virgil, it’s not even noon yet! _

 

_ And? _

 

**_How could you possibly need that much caffeine already?_ **

 

_ Just get me the coffee asshole. _

 

_ Language! _

 

**_Of course dear._ **

 

_ Sorry Pat. _

 

Roman smiled at the messages before stepping up to the counter. He looked up to see L working the counter, and felt his heart give a gentle flutter.

 

“Hey!” L smiled back at him. Roman internally melted. “Hello Roman. How are you?” 

 

“Pretty damn good L. You?” 

 

“I’m glad you’re good. What can I get for you today?” Roman noticed how he skipped around the question of how he was, but gave him his order anyway. “Will that be all?”

 

“Yep!” He handed L his credit card, and bounced on his feet while he waited for his drinks. L worked on them quickly, and just like last time the shop was almost empty.

 

“Hey L! I’m taking my break!” A loud voice shouted from the back.

 

“Noted, Remy,” L called back.

 

Roman quietly admired L as he worked on the coffees, his calm expression and smooth movements. 

 

“Roman?” He looked up to see L holding a carrier with his drinks and a soft smile. “Here you go,” He said, reaching across the counter to hand it to him. As Roman went to take it however, his grip wasn’t firm enough and the drinks fell to the ground. “Oh shit! Sorry L,” He said, but then he glanced at L’s face. “Oh no, ok, c’mon,” 

 

He pushed pulls L out from behind the counter, leading him around so they’re not separated by the counter. L’s eyes are fixed on the coffee on the floor, and his breathing is irregular, but he’s not quite panicking. Yet.

 

“L? Don’t look at that, look at me.” He tugs on L’s hand and leads him outside so he has something else to focus on. L hunches in on himself. He’s staring at his arms. Roman puts a gentle hand on his chin and coaxes his head up so he can look him in the eyes. “You’re ok L. You’re sitting here, with me, outside Rise and Grind.” L’s piercing gray eyes looked slightly glassy, and Roman struggled for how to bring him back to the present.

 

He started gently rubbing his arms, hoping it was neutral place for contact. He kept it up, and after a couple more minutes, L seemed to return to himself. Roman kept rubbing circles with his thumbs on his arms. Roman’s brow pinched together in concern. This was the second time he had seen L in such a state and he was quickly growing concerned for the man.

 

Roman glanced down at his own hands, and saw mysteriously familiar purple ink peeking out from L’s sleeve. He pushed the fabric up and saw a message in handwriting that he knew as well as the back of his hand.

 

The same message that was on his own skin.

 

Roman slowly lifted his gaze back to those gray eyes, his mind a whirlwind of confusion.

 

“ _ Logan? _ ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!  
> I’m so sorry for the wait! This was supposed to be out yesterday, but I was so incredibly busy I didn’t have time to write. I really hope it was worth the wait though. (I did promise it would be out on Saturday and it’s technically still Saturday so.)  
> Your comments give me all the motivation! Thank you guys so much!!  
> Please come yell at me on [Tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/demigodnamedathena)


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quick warning! There are some un-bleeped potty words ahead, and some self deprecating thoughts. Also, Logan’s dad makes an appearance, so be aware! Also alcohol is mentioned but not consumed. :)

Logan’s entire body throbbed with exhaustion as he stood at the bottom of the apartment stairs. The elevator had broken down months ago and it still wasn’t fixed. His apartment was only one flight of stairs up, but to him it seemed like a Herculean task.  _ A panic attack burns the same amount of calories as running a marathon.  _ He vaguely remembered telling Virgil that back when he first told Logan about his anxiety.

 

He sighed and took the first step up, then the second, then the third, ignoring how much effort such a simple task took. 

 

Strange how tips and coping methods for dealing with panic attacks that he had looked up for Virgil were still prevalent in his life even though he hadn’t written to Virgil in months.

 

At first, he had thought that he could just wait it out with his dad, and after a while could start writing again. He was certain that the situation was temporary, and read the writing on his arm to keep up with them. But after the coffee incident, well.

 

It was easier to just stop reading them all together.

 

He noticed a sharp increase in the tingling indicative of writing in a couple months ago, and though his curiosity had been piqued, he didn’t check to find out why. He wore long sleeves everyday in an  _ out of sight, out of mind _ strategy.

 

He noticed that the writing got less and less frequent after graduation, and his heart had ached at the conclusion that they must have met, since school was no longer an obstacle.

 

He had planned on leaving once he graduated high school. Planned to say goodbye to the musty old apartment and it’s memories, and leave for college. Meet his soulmates.

 

_ Well that plan failed magnificently.  _ He thought to himself bitterly. Logan had dropped out of high school before midterms. His dad had stopped working, spending his time drinking and slurring obscenities at whoever was nearest.

 

Logan was almost always the nearest person.

 

But someone had to keep the lights on. Someone had to buy groceries. And Logan had stepped up to the plate. Working all the time left no time for studying, and eventually Logan conceded to failure, and dropped out of school to everyone’s immense shock.

 

His mind swirls with the memories as he reaches the top of the stairs and leans against the wall, willing the numbness of exhaustion away. He hopes his dad isn’t home, prays that the Universe will grant him this small reprieve as he opens the door.

 

A beer bottle shatters against the wall next to him as he flicks on the light, and he sighs.

 

The Universe hadn’t been kind as of late.

 

He made his way further inside, his nose wrinkling at the pungent smell of alcohol. He saw the outline of his dad sitting in the living room, and he glanced over to the hallway leading to his bedroom. He’d have to walk past his dad to get there. 

 

_ Maybe he won’t notice me? _

 

One step into the living room dashed that hope. “Where you been boy?”

 

Logan took a deep breath even as he felt cold fear in his veins. “I was at work, sir.” Even as drunk as his dad clearly was, he would still notice if Logan didn’t use the honorary.

 

His dad just grunted in response, and Logan stood still for a couple more seconds to be sure that he was done. When his dad remained silent, he quickly crossed the room and slipped into his bedroom, letting out all his breath in a  _ woosh. _

 

He flopped back on his bed and stared at the ceiling. It was quiet in the house. Logan wished for something to fill the silence, something other than the  _ tick tick tick  _ of his ceiling fan and the occasional grunt from his dad, wished he could write and feel the gentle calm that his soulmates used to bring him. Now he just felt overwhelming guilt at his treatment of them. So much of a coward he couldn’t even read their messages.

 

Logan rolled into his side and tried to push the thoughts out of his head. A memory of gentle hands and a soft voice came to mind, and he found himself mulling over his interaction with Roman just hours earlier. Roman, who calmed him down with just a few words. Roman, who lead him through breathing exercises till the world felt steady again. Roman, who chewed on his lip in concern as Logan insisted he could make it home fine. And he could.

 

It was once he made it home that the trouble came in.

 

Logan forced that line of thinking away and let himself fall asleep with the faint sound of Roman’s voice echoing in his thoughts.

 

                                     ///

 

Logan jerked upright in bed, his skin breaking out in goosebumps as he shivered. His heart beat against his ribs as if it was trying to escape. He pulled his shaky limbs against his body so he could shrink into a ball, burying his face in his knees.

 

Nightmares were a more frequent occurrence than Logan wished they were, but no matter how many times he woke up drenched in sweat and shaking, he couldn’t get used to it.

 

_ Not real, not real, not real,  _ Logan repeated silently as he breathed into his knees. He sat like that for a while and his limbs continued to shake and he felt tears prick at his eyes.  _ No.  _ Shaky breath in, shaky breath out.  _ I’m going to count to three. And at three, I’ll be fine.  _ Shaky breath in, shaky breath out.  _ 1...2...3…  _ Logan pulled his face out of his knees and wiped at his face. Shaky breath in, shaky breath out.

 

He climbed out of bed with some difficulty, still trembling slightly. He remembered being a kid, when his dad would soothe him after nightmares, and they’d sit in the kitchen together as he drank warm milk.

 

But that was before. There was no longer the warm affection from his dad that permeated Logan’s childhood. There were only harsh words and painful touches.

 

Logan shook his head and exited his room to see if there was any food in the kitchen. His dad was still on the couch, asleep. Or perhaps ‘passed out’ would be a more accurate description. He made his way as quietly as possible to the kitchen, wary of his dad’s wrath if he was awoken.

 

There wasn't much food besides for an apple and some (expired) milk in the fridge. He took the apple and poured out the milk, making a mental note to get some more groceries later today.

 

Logan glanced at the clock above the stove and sighed. He should really leave now to get to work. He had fallen asleep in his uniform but he went back to his room to change the long sleeve shirt he always wore underneath it.

 

He steadfastly ignored the ink on his arms.

 

                                   ///

 

Remy was swamped when Logan showed up, and relief was etched on his face as Logan took over the register so he could mix drinks. The early morning rush usually wasn’t so  _ rushed  _ but Logan didn’t complain because several people left generous tips in the jar.

 

Around 6:45, Logan looked up to greet a customer and found himself face-to-face with Mr Sanders. He blanked for a moment and found himself staring at his former teacher. “Mr Sanders!” He exclaimed once he found his voice. Mr Sanders looked at him, slightly startled before he face morphed to one of recognition. “Logan?”

 

Logan nodded and his smile fell as he took in his teacher. He looked the exact same as he did 7 months ago when Logan was still in school. When Logan’s life was going forward, not back. To his credit, Mr Sanders didn’t look at Logan like he was a failure, and he appreciated that.

 

“So you work here?” Mr Sanders asked after a moment of silence. “I actually snuck back here to pretend to be a barista. Don’t tell management.” 

 

Mr Sanders laughed loudly, drawing the attention of some other patrons. Logan felt the corner of his mouth tick up in a smile. “How have you been, sir?” 

 

“You always call me sir. You’re not a student anymore, please, call me Thomas.”

 

Logan smiled thinly, ignoring the memory of when he first started calling adults “sir” and “ma’am”, the phantom feeling of nails digging into his arm, tearing his skin.

 

“May I take your order, Thomas?”

 

By the time his former teacher left the shop, the morning rush had cleared out completely, leaving a blissful silence. Logan was in a good mood after seeing Mr- _ Thomas  _ and couldn’t help the smile that fought its way onto his face.

 

The bell jingled and Logan’s eyes flicked up to land on Roman. His heart fluttered in his chest and he tried, unsuccessfully, to keep himself from smiling too brightly.

 

“Hey!” Roman greeter, and Logan smiled warmly back. “Hello Roman. How are you?”

 

“Pretty damn good L. How about you?” Sometimes, Logan forgot that he went by L at the coffee shop. It had just been easier to have people call him by something different, made this small shop feel different from being at home. Made him feel different. 

 

But oh, would it be nice to hear his name from Roman’s lips.

 

He realized he was staring at Roman’s lips.

 

“I’m glad you’re good. What can I get for you today?” Roman pursed his lips momentarily (stop  _ staring  _ Logan, God.) but gave him an order for three coffees and handed him his card.

 

Once he ran his payment, Logan got started on Roman’s drinks, focusing on the movements instead of the  _ distracting  _ presence of Roman behind him. Remy called from the back that he was taking his break, and Logan acknowledged his coworker as he was finishing the last drink.

 

He put them in a carrier so Roman could manage better, and reached over the counter to hand it to him. He could have set it down, but this way there was an electric brush of Roman’s fingers against his, and Logan couldn’t resist.

 

But he let go too soon.

 

And the coffee hit the the floor and it puddled and it was hot _ , he knew it was hot,  _ and the memories hit him like a wave. His arm burning, the flash of pain, his dad’s angry voice, the sting of a hand hitting his face, and someone was touching him but it didn’t  _ matter because there was a mess and his dad was going to be so mad- _

 

And then he was outside and there was a bench and light and there was a soothing voice next to him but he could still  _ feel  _ the scalding liquid on his arms.

 

A hand was on his chin and coaxing him  _ up, up, up _ and he couldn’t focus his vision (Had he misplaced his glasses?) but there was a warm touch on his arms and the dual sensation of the memory of pain and the feeling of comforting touch pulled him out of his head. Pulled him back to reality.

 

Roman. Roman’s thumbs were rubbing circles on his arms. His flush of shame that burned on his face momentarily disappeared as all the blood rushed from his face in shock.

 

“ _ Logan?” _

 

How, who, what?

 

No one used his name, not here. Only his soulmates and his teachers used his name, and Roman was definitely not one if his former high school teacher.

 

His brain screeched to a halt as it put the pieces together, but he couldn’t escape the conclusion he had drawn.

 

He looked down and saw, through his tears, writing on Roman’s arm. And as he focused, he recognized Virgil’s and Patton’s handwriting, and his heart squeezed so hard he thought it might burst.

  
  


Soulmates. Two, he had two, he knew he did, he knew  _ them.  _ Patton with the dad jokes and the comforting personality, Virgil with his dry wit and protective nature. 

 

But Roman was their soulmate too. And it felt like he had been replaced.

 

Rational thought be damned, Logan curled in on himself and sobbed, trying to block out every thought and every sound.

 

Roman was touching him again, and he didn’t want to be touched, but his body craved any touch that wasn’t violent, and he found himself collapsing into it despite his best efforts.

 

So Roman held him while he cried, and the last thing Logan was aware of was the solid warmth of two arms lifting him up and against a body before awareness slipped away from him, and he was left with blissful, blissful darkness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey hey hey!  
> Woo! Chapter 8! We’re getting close to the fluff, I promise. You might notice that I did change the chapter count, it’s a guess but I think there’s just too much I want to cover for there to only be two chapters left.  
> Every single comment on the last chapter filled me with such warmth, thank you guys so much, you have no idea how much I appreciate them.  
> If you notice any mistakes please let me know, I self edit and am prone to making mistakes.  
> We have returned to our regularly scheduled programming of one chapter every three days, so chapter nine will be out on the 27th!  
> If you’re interested in my [Tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/demigodnamedathena), that’s right there.  
> Peace! -Athena


	9. Chapter 9

_ It’s our soulmate it’s my soulmate it’s our missing soulmate it’s  _ **_Logan._ **

 

Roman’s hands shook worse than Virgil’s as he held a sobbing Logan and carded his fingers through his hair. It was Virgil’s handwriting, it was Virgil’s pen, it was Virgil’s words. There was no denying it. 

 

But all he could focus on was the weight of Logan in his arms.

 

The tears tapered off, and Logan went limp, leaning entirely on Roman.

 

Roman held Logan a little tighter and looked around. There was no way he was leaving Logan, he was going to bring him home. 

 

Roman shifted Logan so he was holding him bridal style (He was so light, he shouldn’t be so  _ light _ ), and headed towards his car.

 

 ///

 

Logan swam up out of the darkness slowly, reluctant to relinquish the comfortable blanket of nothingness just yet. But as he floated on the edge of consciousness and unconsciousness, a few things trickled through his senses.

 

First. He was warm.

Second. He was not in his bed, as his bed was nowhere near this comfortable.

Third. Someone was talking, but the voice was quiet and soft.

 

These three facts were enough to pull him all the way back to awareness.

 

The first thing he saw upon opening his eyes was the white expanse of blankets and sheets he was surrounded by. For a brief moment, he wondered if he was dreaming. But no, there was a clock on the wall and he could definitely feel the texture of sheets against his skin. In the back of his mind, he noted that he was still in his Rise and Grind uniform. But the next thing he focused on was the group of people standing in the doorway.

 

“All I’m saying is-” Roman was cut off by a young man pressing his fingers against his lips. His eyes were fixed on Logan.

 

“You’re awake,” He said softly, smiling and crossing the room to sit on the bed. Roman and the other boy turned to look at him. Logan focused on Roman, the only familiar thing about this place. He was confused and overwhelmed, hoping for some explanation.

 

“Pat, maybe you and Virgil should give us a minute-” “Virgil?” Logan’s voice came out as a hoarse croak, but he couldn’t care as his brain focused in on the name. Memories came to mind quickly, spilling the coffee, Roman calming him down, the ink on Roman’s arm… _ the ink.  _ A soulmate. Another soulmate, his soulmate, his soulmate’s soulmate. It was confusing and a jumble, and he didn’t realize he was breathing fast until there was a hand on his chest. 

 

“Breathe, Lo.” He looked up through blurry eyes (could he go five minutes without crying?) and made out the shape of the other boy. He breathed out, trying to steady his breaths. “Virgil?” He had to know. He couldn’t bear not knowing, couldn’t bear being touched by him unless he knew for sure. “Yeah,” Virgil murmured. “It’s me.” Despite Logan’s efforts, tears slipped out from beneath his eyelashes. He reached out with his other hand to wipe away the tears in Logan’s face, and he flinched away from the touch. The hand was retracted, and Logan suppressed the urge to reach out and pull the hand back.

 

“Logan,” Roman started, also coming over to sit on the bed. “I think...I think we need to talk.” Logan bowed his head and nodded. 

 

“Yes, I suppose we do.”

 

                                      ///

 

Virgil’s mind screamed as he looked at the boy asleep in Patton’s bed. He had almost fainted when Roman showed up at the door holding a body, but Patton had taken over, ushering him inside and settling the boy in their bed.

 

_ “Pat, he’s our soulmate. He’s Logan.” _

 

Roman had explained how they had met at the coffee shop, how he had seen Virgil’s message on Logan’s arm, how he had brought him home. Virgil was scared, and confused. 

 

Why hadn’t he written in so long? Why had he abandoned them?

 

But when Logan had woken up, and there was no denying that he was Logan,  _ he _ looked confused and scared, and Virgil found himself beside him, telling him to breathe. And then Logan has asked for  _ him _ , and Virgil’s heart stuttered in his chest.

 

They were all gathered on the bed, Virgil sitting criss cross and studying Logan. There was silence as they all searched for words.

 

Patton was the first to speak. “How are you feeling?” 

 

“I am adequate, thank you.”

 

“Good,” Patton smiled. “You were running a bit of a fever earlier and I was worried. But I would expect you’d feel better, you’ve been asleep almost all day,”

 

_ “What?” _ Logan’s eyes got big and he bolted up. “No. I missed so much work, I have to go  _ home, _ ”

 

“Easy, Logan, relax. We called Remy and he got someone to cover for you at work. And we can call your parents if you’re that worried about going home.”

 

Some strange emotion settled on Logan’s face, and far from Roman’s words calming him, he seemed to become more agitated. “You don’t understand, I need to go-” He looked almost panicked, and Roman reached out to touch him. “Lo, hey, everything’s fine. Let’s just call your parents, ok? We’d like to-” He paused and looked at the other two. “We want to get to know you, Logan. And we want to make sure you’re ok.”

 

The weirdness of the conversation and circumstances was making Virgil’s skin crawl, he just wanted to sit down in front of Logan and hear the  _ why  _ straight from him.

 

“Logan, I know this is weird, you’re in a strange house with people you don’t know, and I’m sure we all have a lot of questions, but we’ll take it slow.” Virgil had never been so grateful for Patton. “You can take a shower, if you’d like, and I’ll make us some tea, and we can all just sit and talk. How’s that sound?”

 

Logan still looked unsure, and Virgil couldn’t blame him, but he nodded anyway.

 

“Ok. Let’s do that. I’ll get you some clothes.” Patton rose and left the room, smiling back at Logan as he went. Roman followed behind him, and leaving Virgil and Logan alone. Logan’s eyes were cast down, and Virgil wanted to reach out and hug him. He resisted the urge, and squeezed his arm instead before rising to join his boyfriends in the kitchen.

 

       ///

Logan was grateful for the offer of a shower, and he took the time under the spray of warm water to collect himself. The situation was indeed strange, but his chest felt hollow and numb as he watched his soulmates interact with each other. 

 

_ I shouldn’t be here. _

 

He was certain he would mess this up. He would throw of their dynamic, there couldn’t possibly be room in their group for another person. Being around them stirred up emotions that had been left undisturbed for a long time. The number of times he had cried today was evidence enough of that. But after a while, the steady stream of water helped him balance himself. Get a handle on his emotions.

 

He stepped out of the shower and saw a pile of neatly folded clothes next to the sink. The shirt was warm and soft, as were the pants, and he felt himself relax a little bit as he felt the cleanest he had been in a while.

 

He took a deep breath and headed towards the living room.

 

                                     ///

 

Roman and Patton were deep in conversation in the kitchen as Patton made tea.

 

“But why? Why wouldn’t someone want to be with their soulmates? It just doesn’t make sense.” Roman pulled Patton into a hug, resting his chin on top of his head. “I know  _ mi amor _ . But he’s here now, and we can all talk and get to the bottom of this.”

 

Patton hugged him back and sighed. “Yeah. Thanks Ro,” He held on for a little longer, and then released him so he could grab the tea.

 

Virgil was tugging at his hoodie string and scrolling through his phone when they emerged from the kitchen, Roman sat down next to him and began rubbing circles on his knee. The tugging slowed, and then ceased after a minute. Roman sipped on his tea and hummed a Disney song under his breath. Patton leaned against Roman’s side and just breathed.

 

It was a common scene in their little apartment, but it felt  _ off  _ to Patton now. Perhaps it was the warmth of an extra body on his other side that he now felt he was missing with an acute need.

 

The bedroom door opening drew his eyes up to Logan, and he felt a smile on his face. Then his eyes moved to Logan’s bare arms and he gasped and almost dropped his mug.

 

“Oh  _ Lo,” _

 

Patton held a hand over his mouth as he took in the damage. He had worked in his parents clinic long enough to recognize a burn scar when he saw one, and both Logan’s forearms has clearly been involved in some horrible burn.

 

He noticed the discomfort on Logan’s face and reached out, beckoning him closer. Logan hesitated, but made his way over to the couch slowly.

 

“I’m sorry,” He said, eyes cast down and crossing his arms against his body, hiding them from sight. Patton felt a tear slip down his face as he launched himself forward and pulled Logan into a tight hug. “You have nothing to be sorry for,” He said fiercely.

 

“You all appear to be in emotional distress. I am causing upset and I do have something to apologize for. I have disrupted your day and your relationship.”

 

“Logan, you haven’t disrupted anything. We brought you here and we want you here.” Patton hugged him tighter, and wondered what had happened to the soulmate he used to know.

 

                                     ///

 

Roman frowned at the way Virgil’s shirt hung off Logan’s frame. They were almost the same height, and they should’ve weighed roughly the same, but it was clear they didn’t. The weight of Logan in his arms, so much lighter than it should have been, came to the front of his mind and his frown deepened.

 

They had a lot to talk about.

 

                                       ///

 

Patton pulled away from the hug to run a finger lightly down Logan’s arm, feeling the uneven skin.

 

“Can you feel that?” He murmured. Logan shook his head. Patton moved his finger to the edge of the scar. “There?” Logan nodded and Patton gave a little sigh of relief. The nerves in his arm weren’t completely ruined then.

 

“How’d you get these?” Logan was silent for a while, and Patton kept his arm in his lap, tracing his fingers and waiting patiently. Finally, Logan started to speak.

 

                                    ///

 

“It’s just me and my dad at home. My mom left when I was 12. I didn’t understand it at the time, but I have since come to believe that she left out of fear for my father's volatile temper. My father is a minister, and he often worked while I was home, so I spent much time alone. I dedicated much of my time and efforts to my studies, and as a result I did very well academically.” 

 

Logan shifted, uncomfortable. “I got a job at the Rise and Grind two years ago, I worked and I studied and I went to school. But then I turned 18, and Virgil tumbled into my life. You added a variable to my life that was unexpected and pleasant.” Virgil had a slight pink tinge to his cheeks as Logan pressed on. 

 

“However...my dad started drinking around the same time. Not a lot, and not always, but he started. Two months later, it really got bad. He stopped working and spent most of his time in bars.

 

“I started working more, picking up extra shifts and trying to keep the lights on,” A lump formed in his throat but he pressed on, determined to get it all out. “I dropped out of school so I could work more. And my dad...he hated that I had more than one soulmate. He would tell me that it was  _ wrong _ , that it was unnatural, that I should be ashamed.” 

 

All three pairs of eyes were on him, and he fought the urge to curl in on himself and hide. He couldn’t look them in the eyes as his voice dropped to a whisper.

 

“And at first I didn’t care, because it was my life, not his, and I was proud of you two.” A single tear splattered on his hand and he willed the tears away. “But when he was drunk, he would get  _ so angry.  _ And one day he saw my arms covered with your writings and...he flipped.”

 

Logan could feel the tense anger radiating off his soulmates. Whether or not it was aimed at him, he couldn’t tell. But he continued with the story, because they had to know everything.

 

“And I was scared, and I stopped writing.”

 

He pulled his face out of his knees so they could hear him, but he kept his eyes squeezed shut.

 

“I’m so sorry, this isn’t what you deserve, you don’t want me here. I’ll ruin your relationship. But I’m sorry,”

 

And then he stopped talking. His words ran dry. Whatever had given him the energy to tell them went as quickly as it came, and he felt broken and ugly and tired.

 

“I’m sorry.”

 

                                      ///

 

As the words spilled out of Logan’s mouth, Virgil wanted to go back in time and shelter him from everything bad. And get a good punch in on his dad. The knowledge that Logan’s scars were cause by his own  _ father _ made Virgil’s vision red and his stomach roll.

 

And then Logan started _apologizing_ _to them_. As if he had anything to be sorry for. He hadn’t abandoned them, he was trying to keep himself safe. They had been the ones to leave him behind.

 

Virgil decided, in that moment, that he was never letting him go again.

 

                                    ///

 

Logan dropped his face into his knees. There were too many emotions. Too much was going on, and he was feeling overwhelmed and apathetic at the same time. The silence was loud in his ears as he felt the tense air in the room.

 

Silence. And then, “Logan? Sweetheart, can you look at us?” He kept his face in his knees and shook his head slightly, feeling like a child.

 

“No one’s upset with you Lo. I know you’re feeling a bit overwhelmed, but we’d really like it if you could look at us.”

 

But could he trust that they weren’t mad? Could he trust them?

 

_ Yes. They’re your soulmates. You know them. _

 

He, slowly, very slowly, started to lift his head up. 

 

“There you are. Hey sweetheart.” Patton’s voice was soft and unbearably tender. “Can I touch you?” Logan thought about it. He wasn’t sure he wanted to be touched, but he didn’t want to tell Patton no.

 

Patton took his silence for a no, and started pulling his hands back, and suddenly touch was all he wanted. He wanted reassurance. But Logan stayed silent.

 

Except now that he wasn’t hiding in his knees, their stares felt magnified on him. 

 

“I’m so-”

 

“Don’t you ever apologize to us Logan.” Patton’s voice cut him off, firm but still gentle, and Logan snapped his mouth shut.

 

“None of that was your fault, it was your father’s. And I am  _ so sorry _ that we didn’t do more to find you.”

 

“You thought I didn’t want to be found,” Logan responded. “You can’t be faulted for not acting on information you didn’t have.”

 

_ I didn’t deserve to be found. _

 

“No. No, we should have done more.” Virgil spoke up now from where he had been sitting silently. “You haven’t been with us, and that’s our fault. Not yours. You should’ve been safe, and loved, and you weren’t.” He bit his lip and looked at his other two soulmates. “You should’ve been here, with us.”

 

Virgil reached out and put a warm hand on his knee. When Logan didn’t move away from the touch, he moved closer to him and wrapped him into a hug. “Is this ok?” He asked, breath ghosting over Logan’s ear. Logan couldn’t find his voice so he simply nodded. Roman came up next, and then Patton, molding themselves into their sides, until Logan was surrounded by warmth on all sides.

 

Logan wanted to argue, wanted to insist that it was better that he hadn’t been with them, insist that he didn’t deserve them, eject himself out of this bundle of warmth and light in their small apartment before he brought it crashing down. “Patton-”

 

“Logan. Let us hold you. Please. You’re not ruining anything.” 

 

So Logan quieted, allowing himself to melt into the warmth of the chest underneath him and the sturdy arms holding him. Everything else could wait till morning, but for now, he would let himself be held.

 

He had never felt warmer.

  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!! Woosh, this chapter took a lot out of me.  
> I hope y’all like it!  
> This is the longest chapter yet (2844 words!) and I hope it’s not too tedious to read.  
> Every single comment on the last chapter made me so happy, your support means the world! The story will be wrapping up soon, I’m unsure where I want to end, but I predict one or two more chapters until we get there.  
> Tumblr is [here](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/demigodnamedathena)!  
> Peace! -Athena


	10. Chapter 10

When Patton awoke the next morning, the first thing he was aware of was that he had fallen asleep in an uncomfortable position and that he had fallen asleep on top of someone.

 

He shifted out of under the tangle of limbs and his awareness came back to him, reminding him of last night. He twisted to see Logan, still asleep and wrapped in Virgil’s arms, on top of Roman. He looked relaxed and at ease, and Patton smiled before catching a glimpse of his arm that was dropped over Roman’s chest.

 

The scars were noticeable and covered his entire forearm. If Patton had to guess, he would say that Logan treated them himself. Any hospital would’ve looked into his home life after such a bad accident. 

 

Patton glanced at his own arm and the writing on it that was beginning to fade. He looked back at Logan’s and saw that the writing couldn’t be seen clearly, the bumps and valleys making it almost indecipherable. One of his wrists was clear of the scars, and Virgil’s message was the only readable one.

 

Patton’s blood boiled with anger towards Logan’s dad, who had scarred his own  _ child  _ to the point where he couldn’t read his own soulmates writing.

 

He wouldn’t allow Logan to return there. Never again.

 

He turned and headed to the kitchen to make breakfast, a plan starting to form in his head. He would have to talk to Roman once he woke up and enlist his help.

 

                                     ///

 

Logan woke up disoriented, but he was warm and comfortable, and couldn’t bring himself to be worried. Then the thing he was lying on shifted, and he remembered where he was. All of yesterday’s memories came rushing back, and he groaned and rolled off of Roman. 

 

Virgil mumbled something sleepily and pulled Logan back. “Nooo, stay here,” Logan felt a rush of affection and settled back down next to Virgil, who immediately wrapped himself around him. All the movement had awoken Roman, and he grinned at the two. “Good luck getting up now, morning Virgil is like a koala.” Logan smiled back. 

 

“I don’t mind.”

  
  


Virgil was a solid weight against his side, and Logan couldn’t recall the last time he had felt this comfortable. Virgil was truly beautiful, soft brown hair with faded purple bangs, and his face was soft and open in sleep. Where Logan was all hard edges and angles, a fact that wasn’t helped by his less than ideal nutrition.

 

Virgil stirred slightly, his grip loosening as he started to wake up. “Good morning Virgil,” His voice was quiet and slightly hoarse. Virgil scrambled up immediately with his face bright red. “I’m so sorry, that was probably way too personal for you, I hope I didn’t make you uncomfortable,” 

 

“Virgil, it’s fine. I was not uncomfortable. It was actually...quite pleasant.” Both of them were blushing now, but Virgil settled back on his seat. They sat in silence for a moment, unsure of where to take the conversation. When Virgil had first written to him, Logan had felt a connection. Conversation between them always flowed. Even after Patton came, he found Virgil’s conversations to be especially pleasant. He was much more down to earth than Patton, and together the three of them struck a lovely balance. He supposed Roman had his own place in the balance now. 

 

_ Your place in the balance.  _ A cruel voice that sounded like his father whispered in his head. He looked over towards the kitchen and saw Patton and Roman talking to each other, laughing as they cooked. The doubts swirled in his mind that he was just going to ruin this. Logically, they had an established flow. A foundation that Logan lacked. 

 

“Logan.” He tore his eyes away from the scene in the kitchen to look at Virgil. There was a tender expression on his face. “I can hear you thinking.”

 

“That’s impossible-” Logan started, hoping to deflect whatever emotionally charged conversation that was coming, but Virgil cut him off.

 

You’re worried you won’t fit in with us, worried you’ll throw off our flow somehow.” He paused and smiled at Logan.

 

“And I get it. I do!” He said, seeing Logan’s expression. “I spent  _ so much time _ worrying about our relationship. I still do. From the moment you wrote to me I was terrified that I would let you down. And then Patton showed up, and eventually Roman, and each time I was petrified with the fear of letting you down. Three soulmates means three more people to let down.

 

“But I learned. Patton helped.” Virgil took both of Logan’s hands in his own. “Fate doesn’t make mistakes. When Roman wrote to me, it was like something clicked. Everything was right. I was always supposed to have three soulmates, and my heart knew that.” He gave Logan’s hands a gentle squeeze. “You complete us. And if you forget that, or feel insecure, we’ll be here to remind you.”

 

And the way Virgil was looking at him, expression open and full of affection and reassurance had Logan’s heart fluttering with some emotion that he never thought he’d feel again. So Logan abandoned all rational thought, and kissed Virgil. 

 

Virgil’s lips were soft and he smiled before leaning into the kiss.

 

And the nagging voice was, momentarily, silenced.

 

                                     ///

Roman wandered into the kitchen, smiling warmly at his boyfriend, who was whisking eggs together in a bowl. He wrapped his arms around him from behind and Patton leaned backwards into the hug. “Good morning my love,” Roman murmured. Patton turned around in his arms and beamed at him. 

 

“Good morning!” Roman kissed him softly, and Patton smiled into it. Roman pulled back rested their foreheads together. “I want to do something today, and I’m gonna need your help.”

 

Patton frowned slightly at the way his boyfriend’s face went very serious but nodded. “What do you have in mind?”

 

“I think we need to pay a visit to Logan’s dear old dad.”

 

“I was thinking the same thing.”

 

They were interrupted by Logan and Virgil walking in, both blushing slightly, and Logan had a small, happy smile on his face, and Patton knew that they would all do whatever was necessary to keep that smile there.

 

                                     ///

 

_ Knock knock knock. _

 

Patton bounced on his feet as they stood outside the door. He looked around the hallway where they stood. It was dirty and dark, just like the rest of the building. He felt slightly uneasy and incredibly out of place here. He reached over and grabbed Roman’s hand.

 

Roman looked at him and smiled.

 

Roman knocked on the door again, louder this time.

 

“I’m coming!” Patton squeezed his hand tightly as footsteps approached the door. The door creaked open, revealing a short man with an angry scowl on his face. “That better be you Log-” He stopped short at the sight of the two men standing on his doorstep.

 

“Hello! I’m Roman, this is Patton. We’re your son’s soulmates and we’d like to have a word with you.” The mans mouth fell into an  _ O _ and then he scowled again. “I’ve got a word for you,  _ fu-”  _

 

Roman pushed past him and into the apartment. “Thank you for inviting us in.” Patton followed close behind, his nose wrinkling at the strong smell of alcohol that permeated the apartment. He moved to the back of the apartment, heading down a short hallway.

 

He stuck his head in the first door and flicked the light switch. It didn’t work. Patton entered anyway, squinting in the darkness. There was a desk and a small bed in the corner. He saw textbooks neatly stacked on the desk. There was a fine layer of dust on them.

 

Patton’s heart ached at the place Logan had lived in alone for so long. There was no warmth to be found anywhere in this building. No home in this house. 

 

He quickly went through the small collection of personal items in the room, gathering them into the bag he had brought. Every shirt of Logan’s had long sleeves, and it reminded him of what Logan felt he had to hide, and who had made him feel that way.

 

His mouth pressed into a thin line and he glared at the cold room around him. Then he turned on his heel and left the room, shutting the door firmly behind him.

 

Roman was waiting in the living room, glaring daggers at Logan’s father. If looks could kill, he’d be dead twice over. Patton set the bag down and crossed the floor so he was standing in front of the man.

 

“I have a lot that I want to say to you.” His voice trembled with emotion and he clenched his fists by his side. “But I don’t think you’re worthy of the time.” He took a step forward and got right into his face. “But I will say this. Your son, is an amazing, intelligent,  _ beautiful  _ person. And we love him. Very much. And whatever you think of our lifestyle doesn’t matter to me, because I know that I am loved, and that we all share that love. You hurt him. You dared to leave marks on one of my soulmates and you got in his head and left marks there too. 

 

“You are no longer allowed to think of him. He does not belong to you, and you will never see him again. Logan is going to stay with us, where he will be safe, and he will be loved. He should have been loved by you, and he should have been safe in his home. But you took that from him. And you will never be forgiven for that. Not by me. Not by us.” Patton had tears on his face but his voice was steady. “I hope, one day, you will recognize your mistakes. But even if you did, you still wouldn’t be deserving of that wonderful, wonderful man's trust and love.”

 

Patton leaned back and wiped his face. “Roman, lets go.”

 

Patton turned and walked away from him without a second glance, as Roman stared after his soulmate with his jaw on the floor. He gathered himself quickly, grabbing the bag that Patton had left on the ground.

 

And as he followed Patton, who walked with his back straight and his chin up, he silently thanked Fate for sending him Patton.

 

                                     ///

 

Patton and Roman had left to run some sort of errand, leaving Virgil and Logan alone in the house.

 

And it had been good.

 

They spent the time getting to know each other again, avoiding serious subjects out of respect for the amount of emotional turmoil Logan was dealing with. They ended up on the couch watching  _ Doctor Who _ after Virgil dropped a casual reference into their conversation. Logan hadn’t been able to watch the show in a while, and he was thrilled with the new companion, an openly gay woman named Bill.

 

And if he was a little (a lot) in Virgil’s personal space, and maybe it could’ve been interpreted as cuddling (it definitely was) then that was ok too.

 

He heard the door open and tensed up involuntarily, even though he knew it was just Patton and Roman returning. Virgil rubbed his back with a gentle hand and sat up so he could greet his soulmates. Roman was holding a bag that he didn’t remember them leaving with, and Patton looked like he had been crying.

 

“Ro? Pat? What’s going on?” Logan sat up as well, curious. Something shifted in Patton’s face as he stared at Logan, and he came to sit next to him on the couch. “Logan, Roman and I. Well. We went to see your dad,” He paused and Logan stared at him in shock. Then his eyes widened and his hands made an aborted motion, like he wanted to touch Patton. “Why would you do that? Are you ok? Why- why go see him? Was he upset? Oh God-”

 

“No, Logan, everything’s fine. We’re fine. We went because we wanted to talk to him.” He reached out and took his hands. “Logan, what he did was not ok. And...I had some words to say to him. We told him that you wouldn’t be returning. You don’t have to go back there, you  _ shouldn’t  _ go back there.” Roman brought over the bag of stuff and set it next to Logan. “If...if it’s ok with you, I’d like you to stay here. With me. With us. What do you think?” 

 

Logan stared at the duffle bag that held his belongings. Everything that he had left in his cold room at the small apartment. The place that Patton was saying he didn’t have to go back to. “You’d be safe here. He can’t come after you. You’re an adult, you can make your own choices. He doesn’t have power, not anymore.”

 

Patton’s voice was soft, and so were his touches. All of them were soft in a way he hadn’t felt in a long time. He looked down and saw that Patton was rubbing his arms, a touch he couldn’t feel. He couldn’t feel his soulmates hands, and that was his dad’s fault. Not his.

 

Logan shuddered and leaned forward so he could rest his forehead against Patton. “Thank you. Thank you  _ thank you thank you-”  _ He tripped over his words as he struggled to express his gratitude, but Patton pulled him close and soothed him. “You’re welcome sweetheart, you’re so welcome.” Other hands joined him, Virgil and Roman joining in on the hug until he was surrounded by them.

 

It was warm and safe and bright and full of love. Logan sighed and soaked up the warmth, knowing that they would stay with him as long as he wanted.

 

And inexplicably, in this corner of the world that was everything good and entirely theirs, he fit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We did it! We reached the end!  
> Wow, this was an insanely amazing journey. I want to thank every single person who read this, who stuck it through with me until the end. Everyone who commented and left kudos has a special place in my heart, thank you all so much. I wasn't expecting the response I got from this fic, I didn’t even think anyone would read it.  
> This was an incredible experience for me, I pushed myself to write a story and stick with it, writing a chapter every three days. Its not perfect, but it’s finished. Ididn’t know I could do it, but I did. And I owe a lot of the credit to all of you guys and your amazing support. This story will always have a special place in my heart.  
> This is the last chapter! I’m happy with the ending and I believe this will be the end. There is a possibility of an epilogue, but right now I’m pleased with this.  
> I hope you enjoyed the story, I hope every one of you knows how amazing you are.  
> Lots of love! -Athena


End file.
